Builders' Forum

Looks like we're just about a month out from the Wooden Boat Festival at Port Townsend, WA. Is anyone interested in getting together for a while on Saturday afternoon by the CLC booth?

I'm just about finished with my 2nd boat, a gunter-sloop Passagemaker (non-Take-Apart). My first being an Eastport Pram.

We can talk about things like:

1. Boats we have built, challenges and benefits.

2. Boats we're seriously thinking about building - Lots of plans are available at the booth at boat show discounts.

3. Specifics - epoxy, rigging, making vs. buying sails, etc.

4. Disaster stories (e.g. I have one about capsizing on Lake Union), and what we've learned from it.

5. How awesome the Wooden Boat Festival is and other stuff we've seen (e.g. I've regularly been able to talk to Geoff Kerr down on one of the boats).

6. You experience building your Passagemaker at The Center for Wooden Boats on Lake Union (I may make an appearance down there with my new PMD).

7. How excited you are about picking up your new CLC kit in PT with free shipping!

8. Show & Tell - I might bring a few things, including t-shirt(s).

9. Sourcing - While it may just be easier to the stuff you need for your boat from CLC, especially if they have a Labor Day sale, but I've gotten stuff from Downwind Marine, Fisheries Supply, West Marine, Sailrite, etc. while putting this gunter-sloop rig together.

I contacted Wooden Boat Dan from the Hooked on Wooden Boats podcast. He will be joining us. For those of you that may not have experienced his podcast, Dan has done some great interviews with several prominent boat builders and designers, including a couple of interviews with John Harris while in PT over the years.

Sorry we'll miss you Nick. We're looking at Saturday 2PM PDT, out front of the CLC booth. Bar from Maslow CNC will be there and I've reached out to Leo who's restoring Tally Ho, with whom I will be working this month.

I actually may be there on Friday after all. BTW, the folks at the CLC booth probably won't know who I am. I'm not Laszlo. My number is 340.643.4388. Text me when you're there and I'll let you know where I am.

I'm about to hop on the bike and head over to the ferry landing. I'll be in front of the CLC booth (not affiliated) at 2pm on Saturday. Since I'm on the bike, I'll probably just bring my synthetic rigging for the PMD for Show & Tell.

There are also a ton of cool seminars, some of which I plan on attending.

See you there!

Oh, according to CLC's post, there isn't a PMD in the mix of boats they brought, but there is an EP and a Tenderly, among others, plus the Teardrop, so plenty of "boat porn".

So, I went a little overboard packing for Show & Tell. I packed a good bit of the rigging of the PMD & EP, plus some goodies for deck hardware options. Also, I'm prepped to do a bit of 3 strand and Dyneema splicing demos.

Enjoyed meeting you at the Wooden Boat Festival in PT. Thanks for the lesson in splicing three strand. I stopped a Brion Toss's shop and bought a phid and then at the Chandlery for a few feet of line to practice on. Hope to see you on the water in my soon to be built Skerry.

Hey Ray, it was great to meet you too. I had fun and thanks for the beer!

To wrap it up, the festival was awesome. Got to see a bunch of old friends and meet a bunch of new ones.

We talked about the various boats CLC had on display and how their various designs intersect with a prospective builder's needs and experience level. We covered various building techniques (e.g. hollow spars, etc.). We talked a lot about rigging small boats for sailing and I brought the rigging for my two boats to show various aspects like Dyneema shrouds, various ways to rig the mainsheet, bridle/traveller, etc. I also covered Dyneema and 3 strand splicing and the various fids to use for each.

One cool thing was that even though CLC didn't have a Passagemaker in their mix, there was a guy who has built several set up right next door to display the one he had for sale, so we had a very excellent example to cover various aspects of the build. He had implemented several of the upgrades I had read on PMDBuilders.net and he also rabbeted his gunwale to cover the plywood edge like I did. Very cool!

All in all a great time. I thought it was a successful demo. The guys at CLC actually had heard about the Meetup, which was gratifying. Maybe next year we can make it a bit more formal and I can even set up a table and do splicing demos or something.

My wife and I strolled through on Friday. We had a great time. I was really glad to see the Waterlust Canoe on display. I was actually a little shocked at how small it appears in person. I have been fascinated by that design since the first time I saw an article about it. Awesome time at the festival!